Don't know if you all saw this article in *Hyperallergic. *Its related, however on a wider spectrum of artists:
https://hyperallergic.com/408558/over-1800-female-artists-and-art-workers-sign-letter-against-sexual-harassment/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Artists%20and%20Art%20Workers%20Sign%20Letter%20Against%20Sexual%20Harassment&utm_content=Artists%20and%20Art%20Workers%20Sign%20Letter%20Against%20Sexual%20Harassment+CID_9e2035daa86535d993a8c1d2c4325563&utm_source=HyperallergicNewsletter&utm_term=not-surprisedorg%20initiative Mary B On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 1:10 AM, lady snowblood < [email protected]> wrote: > Thank you for your observations on the role of scholarship in creating > centered spaces for auteurs Evan. > > When female filmmakers voices are centered, when I as a woman don’t have > to decrypt and explain what is perfectly clear to me — I was raised > literate in a male visual vocabulary (as is everyone in the culture). I am > constantly doing double-work. When I don’t have to do that, then gender > parity will have happened. > > I grew up trained to recognize male visual language, right? Double-work is > “ok where is my vision of this, as it has been informed by my > woman-experience”. It is what women say to other women when men aren’t > around, what men miss or overlook. This is often the narrative I’m > interested in. And that kind of narrative is often demoted because it > literally can’t be seen. > > I can put on multiple lenses, I have practiced reading so many kinds of > work by so many kinds of speakers. Yet the voice at center? Usually male > auteur. The kind of work rewarded? Same. > > That place in the center allows the auteur the power to abuse those in the > margins. > > To me the deepest revolution is to sponsor women’s authorial power, to > bring queer authors, POC authors, to the center. Let many have a turn in > that space. Lateralize the mountain, get rifle of ideas of apex. Train all > in how to listen and prize story and voice coming from places “not white”, > “not male”, etc. > > So many people are making work now, I gave up pederasts and stalkers and > found new art old and new to research and consider. It’s not hard. I value > Tippi Hedrin more than Alfred Hitchcock’s films, not a tough decision. > > I also keep the act of viewing art in balance with other areas of life - I > have few idols and art isn’t an escape for me, rather it enriches my life. > It’s not a church, either, it’s part of our built world. > > I also have listened to too many women (and a smaller number of men) who > have been assaulted. That pain is real, the day to say struggle, often too > much. Art? It’s an illusion. Created in a more conscious way than our > mutual traumas, so much of trauma a boiling-over of uncontrollability and > attempts to control. > > Anyway ... I have worked with survivor communities training in fine art > production, it is something we should keep talking about. Certainly it’s > not one answer coming from ‘out there’ that gets us to figure out, each one > of us, what might work. It’s a gigantic constellation of conversations and > ongoing discussion and failing and trying again. > > Thanks for bringing this up. It’s a valuable convo to have. > > Jessica > > * * * * * > > Jessica Fenlon > > artist : poet : experimental : http://sixth-station.com > > flickr <https://www.flickr.com/photos/drawclose> : vimeo > <http://vimeo.com/jessicafenlon> : instagram > <https://www.instagram.com/port.manteaux> > > On Nov 26, 2017, at 12:31 AM, Amanda Christie < > [email protected]> wrote: > > I would like to offer another perspective, that no one has mentioned yet… > about when it comes to naming names… > and the idea that Evan mentioned about the voiceless gaining a voice… > > if a third party names names… are the voiceless actually gaining a voice > if they are not the ones telling their own stories? > or is someone else then telling their story for them, and thus stealing > their voice again? > > > there is more complexity to this situation than just what to do with the > art of an aggressor after an aggressor has been outed… > there is also the question of how the outing of an aggressor then impacts > the actual people who were hurt and whether or not they are the ones > telling their own stories. > I think that is the most important question in all of this. > Consideration for the people who were hurt and making sure that they > retain their own right to choose whether or not to tell their own stories. > > > naming aggressors should come from the people who have personally been > hurt by them… (I don’t want to use the term “victim", or “survivor", > because i find those terms put the person who lived the experience, into a > labelled box where their whole identity becomes about the aggression they > lived through, rather than all of the other things they accomplished in > their life… but i can’t think of better terms right now, so i will > reluctantly use those terms in this instance). > > > So... let’s say someone does name people… what about the victims or > survivors… do they have a say in that? > if he outs them… then, no. they don’t. and they become revictimized again. > Even if their own names are not mentioned as “victims” or “survivors"… > seeing their aggressors named, may out them anyway… because this is a very > small community. > > > and I think that it is problematic when we become so focussed on outing > people, for the greater cause… that we forget about the impact it might > have on the individual people who actually experienced the aggressions, > that are then forced to relive traumatic experiences without having > prepared themselves for it… or who then have to have their own art work or > past films defined by those experiences rather than by the work itself. > > in addition to potentially further victimizing those who were already > hurt… i think that naming names risks becoming a simplistic distraction > from actually discussing the issues and finding strategies for moving > forward…. > > > which brings me to the other issue, which i think is of critical > importance in this particular context of esoteric experimental films made > in the margins… > > > as Pip said… this is not the industry… there are no casting couches… but > still… precisely because this is a small community, making esoteric > non-commercial works… it makes it that much harder for people to come > forward with stories… why? because, our experimental films have such a > small audience to begin with… and while there is some critical and academic > writing about these films… it is still limited… so, if someone comes > forward with a story about surviving an assault or an aggression while > making a film… then later on, if their work ever gets written about… that > aggression or assault becomes a part of the public narrative of their work… > perhaps even tied to a particular film… basically, if someone shares about > such an experience… they risk having the story of their assault hijack the > public and historical narrative of their film, because then whenever people > write about that film… they don’t just write about the film itself… they > might write about the “obstacles” that were overcome when making the film… > the “survivor” story… all of a sudden the film itself gets lost as it > becomes a vehicle to advance the greater cause of sexual equality,which is > a good cause… however... as such, the film itself (the one made by the > victim or the survivor) risks getting lost or overshadowed in the process > of telling the story of the aggression…. and the filmmaker is then reduced > to either a victim or a survivor, instead of being treated simply as a > filmmaker… so then there is the dilemma… does a person share the story, > for the greater good in order to promote progress and end rape culture, and > therefore, in the process of so doing, risk having their artwork hijacked, > because opening that narrative essentially gives back power to their > aggressors, because the story of the aggression will then quite likely > overshadow the film itself?… > > why do i say the story of the aggression may overshadow the story of the > film itself? precisely because our films are experimental and esoteric in > nature… made for a small audience… meanwhile stories of sexual assault are > (dare i say it) sexy and scandalous and people love juicy stories and > gossip… > > these stories of assault have wider public appeal than experimental films… > and so a filmmaker making small experimental films on the margins… who > shares a story about assault that happened while making a film… risks the > possibility that the film gains a wider audience… not because of anything > inherent in the film itself…. but rather because of the drama of the story… > and thus, in a sense, the aggressors take the film from the artist who was > assaulted… when they have probably already taken enough from that artist as > it is… (when i say the aggressors take the film from the artist… i mean in > the sense that the story of the assault, hijacks any critical discussion or > interpretation of the film itself, because people focus on the conditions > of the making of the film and the assault, instead… essentially, public > narrative of the film is hijacked)”… the aggressors should not be allowed > to take the artist’s film from them as well…. they shouldn’t be allowed to > have that too. > > > so, i’m not sure if all of this is coming across clearly… but i think it > is very very important… especially in a milieu where our work is esoteric > and our audiences are small… and writing about our work is limited… that we > make sure to be careful about who gets to tell their own stories. > > > when you out an aggressor… you may also be outing a victim or a survivor > who might not want to be outed… because they might prefer that their films > and their artwork to stand on its own merit… and not be hijacked by a > terrible experience… they might not want to relive something… they might > not want those stories showing up in historical texts written about them… > they might not want to talk about those stories every time they are > interviewed about a certain film or during every Q&A after that film > screens… these stories don’t only impact the reading the work of the > aggressors… they also impact the reading of the films made by the victims > and survivors… > > > so yeah… i think it is very important to be careful when naming names… to > look at the bigger picture… not just the picture of the greater good and > progress and moving forward and ending rape culture… because ending rape > culture also includes consideration for the individuals that were actually > hurt by the aggressors… their personal mental and psychological states… and > the impact that these stories might have on the public reception of their > works and potential future writing about their work. > > > it’s important to think of the impact it will have on the individuals who > were hurt… and to think about who has the right to tell whose story. > > my two cents. > > adc > > > On Nov 25, 2017, at 8:23 PM, Evan Greene <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Fred, > > > While I agree is a lot more complicated of a situation. I was writing out > a whole long response talking about Gauguin, Picasso, and other toxic male > artists among other things when I decided to revisit your website and > noticed a few things: > > > 1) your list of what you consider the greatest films of all time include > no female filmmakers. > > > 2) your list of what you consider the greatest filmmakers of all time is > almost entirely male. > > > 3) almost all of your writing on film you have linked on your site is > about male filmmakers. > > > Honestly I find this kind of weird too considering you’ve written so much > on Brakhage and three of the most influential filmmakers on him we’re all > women. Deren, Menken, Schneemann. All of whom are notably absent from your > lists. > > > While I somewhat understand your reasoning not to name names it seems that > it also could be read that you’re trying to keep your version of cinematic > history untainted. > > > We live in a different world now. > > What was once acceptable and commonplace isn’t anymore. > > The voiceless are starting to gain a voice. > > > 😎 > > > On Nov 25, 2017, at 3:15 PM, Chuck Kleinhans <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Sum Bodi and Evan Greene, > > > In making the initial post on this discussion thread, I was thinking of > the general topic of sexual harassment, not calling out individual people. > I think the discussion has tended to go that way, broadening out at times > to discuss sexism in general in the experimental art world. > > > I agree with Fred that it is not appropriate to name names here for > several reasons: much of the “knowledge” is hearsay, a free for all social > media listserv is not a forum with any protections for all the parties who > might be concerned (accuser, accused, bystanders, spouses/partners, > children, the framing institutions, etc.), and different people draw “the > line” in different places for inappropriate behavior. As much as possible, > I think the goal should be restorative justice. > > > At least in educational institutions today we have (some) formal Title IX > policies and procedures in place (as flawed as that system may be, and as > determined that the Trump administration is to weaken them). For a > particularly lucid discussion of these controversies I’d recommend > filmmaker/critic Laura Kipnis’s new book, Unwanted Advances: Sexual > Paranoia Comes to Campus. > > > Earlier Pip argued that because so much of experimental filmmaking is done > in an individual artisan way there aren’t the same workplace hierarchies as > in the commercial film world. True, but anytime there are power > differentials, abuse is possible: that may be in funding, access to > equipment, necessary services, distribution, exhibition, curating, and even > archiving and preservation. And criticism and recognition. Our field, > after all ranges from the first year student showing a short work at the > end of the semester class screening to yet another mammoth Mathew Barney > extravaganza at a major museum. > > > Chuck Kleinhans > > _______________________________________________ > > FrameWorks mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > _______________________________________________ > > FrameWorks mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > -- www.marybillyou.com
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